The calendar for the year in boxing 2018 is starting to flesh out a tiny bit.

The best – or second or third-best – boxer on the planet is two-division champion Terence Crawford and, but of course, he is atop many watch lists and we want to get a sense of when he’s gloving up for his inaugural 2018 scrap.

That will become clearer after Jeff Horn’s WBO 147-pound crown defense takes place in Australia, against Brit Gary Corcoran, on December 13. And Crawford will be real close, so he’ll get a close-up gander at with whom he’ll be tasked, adding to his scalps list. Yes, Crawford will head to Australia, with Team Top Rank, and sit ringside to watch Horn-Corcoran, says TR bossman Bob Arum. Depending on how Horn vs. Corcoran plays out, the promoter said we’d see that winner meet Crawford in March or April.

And, pray tell, where? Back to Nebraska for “Bud”? Or New York City again? “To be determined,” Arum answered. “If Horn wins, I’d expect the same crazy publicity (in his native land of Australia), along those lines, that we saw for him against (Manny) Pacquiao (last July). It would again be on ESPN and it would be very, very big, big enough to do in a big arena in Las Vegas. Horn has said his dream is to be in a main event on the big stage in Vegas. Terence’s fans from Nebraska are so avid, you’d get 5-to-6,000 from Nebraska to Vegas; I think.”

A programming note: You can watch Jeff Horn vs. Gary Corcoran on Wednesday, on the morning of December 13. “Our good friends at ESPN,” Arum said, will be showing Horn vs. Corcoran, live, at 6:15 a.m. ET, 3:15 a.m. on the West Coast.

So, either load up on caffeine before and make it an all-nighter…or set the alarm and get a strong pot percolating.

Results: The WBO Champion Terence Crawford Crawford gains the WBA and IBF junior welterweight titles, adding to the WBC and WBO belts, when he dropped Julius Indongo in the second round, before finishing him off in the third on a hard body shot. Julius Indongo (22-1, 11 KO) was down for the full ten count,

Light welterweights Terence Crawford and Julius Indongo are set to fight Saturday in an ultra-rare, four-belt unification bout. The match, in Lincoln, Nebraska, will be televised live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 10 p.m. ET and streamed live via the ESPN app.

Here’s what they had to say today:

Terence Crawford: “(Indongo) is at the end of his career. He doesn’t have a lot of choices. He can’t wait around for a long time…He has good legs. It seems like he can punch a bit. He doesn’t let his opponent get inside.”

Julius Indongo: “It’s something huge. It’s very big. It’s very meaningful…I am a humble guy but I don’t fear anybody. My focus, my game-plan, everything is in position…Although people never knew me, this is the right time to show the world.”

Top Rank President Todd duBoef: “This is a global sport. In America, we’re relatively isolated to a small pool of fighters. What Indongo did was, the door of opportunity opened and he stepped through it. This goes back to what makes boxing so special. People take advantage of those opportunities and a diamond in the rough is discovered.”

That was true well before the WBC broke away from the WBA in the 1960s. In the 1930s, the middleweight and flyweight titles had a slew of claimants to the world title. Everyone was making enough money that holding off on ultimate ‘unification’ took about a decade to complete.

Money is the root of it after all.

Most of the fighters who hold belts aren’t worried about losing a boxing match. They’re worried about losing a check. If you’re a Strawweight champion making five figures for a title fight, that’s a hell of a lot better place to be than the strawweights without a belt. Risking a title against another champion makes it harder to make a living. It only makes sense if it pays well more than defending often in front of a paying home court until a dangerous mandatory comes along.

It’s not very sporting but, for most of the beltholders in boxing, it’s rational.

They made the risk worth the reward for the fighter with more to lose this weekend.

To be sure, both Julius Indongo and Terence Crawford have a lot on the line. Each holds two of the four most recognized sanctioning body titles. They stand to have the largest audience of their respective careers on ESPN (10 PM EST/7 PM PST) with solid fight week coverage to get the word out.

Unlike Crawford (31-0, 22 KO), an American fighter with an established base of fans in Nebraska and lots of US TV exposure, Indongo (22-0, 11 KO) likely has less chance to rebound if he loses this weekend. Indongo is already 34 and, for most American fans, unknown even with his WBA and IBF belts.

Indongo might have been able to milk those belts for a while and spread out the paydays. Instead, he’s trying to finish a gutsy road trip trifecta.

Namibia’s Indongo went to Russia and knocked out Russia’s Eduard Troyanovsky (26-1, 23 KO) last year for the IBF strap. He went to Glasgow to beat Scotland’s Ricky Burns for the WBA strap.

Now he’s in Lincoln Nebraska trying to go from invisible man to undisputed champion in three fights.

Lose memorably and there could be other days for Indongo. Lose wide and he may be forgotten as quickly as he emerged. Indongo is gambling big on himself and deserves credit for it.

Crawford merits plenty of credit too. The WBC, WBO, and lineal champ is a talented fighter on the cusp of the real high dollar promised land. Indongo is the sort of guy a man in his position might not normally want to mess with. Indongo is longer, taller, and has shown the pressure of being the away team does not stifle him.

The risk for Crawford isn’t that a loss could make him anonymous. For Crawford, the risk is that a loss could provide a long-term rationale for fighters to avoid him and cut off his avenues to the biggest fights that could be made.

He is, in some sense, where the late Vernon Forrest found himself in 2003. After two wins over “Sugar” Shane Mosley, Forrest was the lineal welterweight champion and the consensus 2002 Fighter of the Year. He could begin to realistically dream about chasing the golden goose of his era: Oscar De La Hoya. All he had to do was keep winning and hope public pressure and consistent victory opened a door down the road.

Forrest opted for a unification clash with wild swinging, big talking Ricardo Mayorga. The odds were heavily in Forrest’s favor.

Mayorga stopped him in three and then won a decision in the immediate rematch.

Forrest was far from done. HBO and Showtime still had room for him and he added two reigns at Jr. middleweight. It was a hell of a career.

It just never quite landed on the jackpot fight.

Crawford has won recognition from both Ring and TBRB as the rightful champion at lightweight and Jr. welterweight. He’s already had a hell of a career but the true riches lay just a little farther away. This might be the absolute worst time to lose he could find.

It’s what makes this a fight to be excited about. While both men are getting a reported seven figures, that’s not the sort of sum after taxes that puts one in a safe zone for life. They’re getting good money in the hopes of great money somewhere down the line.

They’re also fighting to do something only one other fighter has done.

Since the WBO came into existence in the late 1980s, only two fighters have held all four major belts simultaneously: Bernard Hopkins who unified the middleweight crown and Jermain Taylor who took it from him. The winner Saturday will be the third.

Unification was never easy. In the four-belt era, it’s so difficult almost no one even bothers to try.

Crawford and Indongo are both bothering. Who will find their risk rewarded?

Top Rank announced its next two main events late Thursday night in its new partnership with ESPN.

The basic-cable network will air a super featherweight title bout between champion Vasyl Lomachenko and Miguel Marriaga on August 5. Two weeks later, ESPN will broadcast a full 140-pound championship unification fight that’ll match Terence Crawford against Julius Indongo.

Lomachenko and Crawford are generally regarded as two of the top five boxers, pound-for-pound, in the sport.

While facing Indongo represents a shot a full unification for the highly skilled Crawford, Lomachenko’s opponent is coming off a loss. Mexico’s Oscar Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs), the WBO featherweight champion, defeated Marriaga by unanimous decision in their 12-round fight April 22 at StubHub Center in Carson, California.

“Pound for pound, no one can match the talent of Vasyl Lomachenko and Terence Crawford,” Top Rank president Todd duBoef told ESPN.com. “They drew the best ratings on premium cable this year [HBO], and now everyone will be able to see them when they defend their world titles in all-action fights in August, live on ESPN.

” Crawford and Lomachenko have become two of the most-watched fighters in bouts broadcast by HBO over the past couple years, but ESPN is available in millions more homes than HBO.

ESPN’s partnership with Bob Arum’s Top Rank will officially begin Saturday night, when the network will televise the Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn welterweight title fight from Brisbane, Australia, Horn’s hometown.

Their scheduled 12-round fight for Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title will take place Sunday afternoon in Brisbane, where a crowd of 60,000 is expected at Suncorp Stadium, but it will air Saturday night in the United States at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

New York – WBC/WBO world champion Terence Crawford (31-2, 22 KO’s) did what he normally does on Saturday night; take a formidable opponent and make him look like he doesn’t belong in the same ring. Felix Diaz (19-2, 9 KO’s) is an Olympic gold medalist and a very credible junior welterweight who many felt had defeated Lamont Peterson in a controversial decision loss.

But against Crawford, Diaz might have not won a single round. Crawford even fought Diaz south paw the whole fight. This was something his promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, Inc. has expected ever since his first showing on HBO.

“Ever since his first fight on HBO, I thought he was going to be the best of the best,” Arum told reporters ringside after the fight this Saturday. “I thought tonight, he fought a really tough guy and he handled with him with ease. He just gets better and better.”

The plan is to make a fight with Julius Indongo (22-0, 9 KO’s) for all of the 140 pound-titles this summer and then likely go after a mega fight after.

“We want to unify with (Julius) Indongo and get all four belts, once we get all the belts this summer, he’s going to fight Pacquiao and we’re going to set it up with my new partner Warren Buffet,” joked Arum.

In the history of boxing there is somewhat of a changing of the guard or passing of the torch when a once famed superstar fights an up and coming fighter. In victory, the up and coming star makes his name off that fight.

Arum sees a fight between Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KO’s) and Terence Crawford differently, not as a changing of the guard but a competitive fight that people will pay to see.

“No changing of the guard, it’s a fight that people want to see and pay for or a fight, they won’t pay for,” Arum explained about a potential fight between Pacquiao and Crawford.

“The changing of the guard is bullsh*t fake news like you guys say. It’s fake news. If people want to see the fight and it economically will do justice to both guys. I think it would be a terrific fight and I’d make the fight.”

It seems the possibility of a Terence Crawford vs Julius Indongo junior-welterweight super fight has got a second wind. The idea of such a match-up was born in the minds of boxing fans when IBF/IBO 140-pound champ Indongo (21-0, 8 KO’s) travelled to Glasgow, Scotland to unifiy with WBA titlist Ricky Burns (41-6-1, 14 KO’s) this last April.

With Crawford having the rest of the titles in the division and all-belt unifications are an absolute rarity in pugilism, at least in the last couple of decades, expectations were through the roof after Namibian Indongo’s masterful performance over the more accomplished Burns in a one-sided twelve-round unanimous decision win.

Unfortunately the International Boxing Federation announced shortly after the bout that Indongo has to face his mandatory, Sergey Lipinets next.

Talks about a potential Crawford-Indongo showdown cooled off by the statement and the match-up was believed a no-go until this last Saturday night. Fans at the legendary Madison Square Garden and in front of television sets watching HBO World Championship Boxing recognized the Namibian fighter in the crowd during WBC/WBO champ Crawford’s recent title defense against Dominican Felix Diaz.

Later in the telecast Jim Lampley, blow-by-blow commentator of HBO did mention Indongo’s name more then once as a possible future opponent for Terence Crawford.

The undefeated Omaha-native himself told during his post-fight interview following his win over Diaz that he is willing to face Indongo next.

BoxingScene.com reached out to the Namibian fighter’s response regarding such a super fight.

”Firstly, I would like to congratulate Crawford for an amazing victory over Diaz. He is a real champion and worthy of my praise. He showed real character and skill and that is what brings out the best in me against any opponent in the ring. My team and I flew 20 hours from Namibia just to come and watch his fight and I am ready to face him,” told Indongo.

Namibian promoter Nestor Tobias, who also serves as the trainer of his world champion protegee, believes that a showdown between Crawford and Indongo is really what the fans want to see.

”We are willing to make [that bout] happen provided the Crawford camp feels the same,” stated Tobias, who added they have a number of plan B’s if negotiations with Top Rank would fall through on Crawford-Indongo.

”Another likely option [for Julius] is Adrien Broner among others, but we will keep our options open and go for the most competitive fight for ourselves and the fans.”

The winner of a potential Crawford-Indongo super fight would only be the third fighter since the founding of the World Boxing Organizations in 1988 to hold all four belts at the same time in any division.

Boxing aficionados all over the world are dreaming about this fight. Let’s hope it comes true.

NEW YORK (AP) — Terence Crawford patted Felix Diaz on the head and pounded uppercuts into his eye in his latest dominant victory.

His next fight could bring him all four 140-pound belts.

Or it could bring him Manny Pacquiao.

Crawford remained unbeaten when Diaz’s corner stopped the fight after the 10th round of the 140-pound fight and looks ready for whichever of his options comes later this year.

“I’ve been saying that for years now. It’s not up to me. But everybody wants to know who’s the next guy that Terence Crawford wants to fight,” Crawford said. “I’ll fight anybody. It doesn’t matter who it is.”

Crawford had dominated after a couple close early rounds and Diaz’s left eye appeared swollen shut, making him helpless to spot Crawford’s lightning-fast combinations.

Crawford (31-0, 22 KOs) toyed with Diaz in the 10th, backing him into the corner and then, rather than throw any punches, patting him on the head. He then unloaded a couple hard shots toward the end of the round, prompting trainer Joel Diaz to tell referee Steve Willis his fighter could no longer continue.

Afterward, Crawford named longtime superstar Pacquiao and welterweight champion Keith Thurman as fighters he’d want if he moves up in weight. But he may stick around at 140 a little longer to grab the two belts he doesn’t own.

Crawford successfully defended his WBC and WBO titles. Promoter Bob Arum said the Omaha, Nebraska, fighter would return this summer and they could look to unify the titles against Julius Indongo, who holds the WBA and IBF 14-pound titles.

“Once he gets all four belts he’s going to fight Pacquiao with my new partner Warren Buffett,” Arum said.

Diaz (19-2, 9 KOs), lost for the first time at 140 pounds and was stopped for the first time.

Terence Crawford patted Felix Diaz on the head and pounded uppercuts into his eye in his latest dominant victory. His next fight could bring him all four 140-pound belts. Or it could bring him Manny Pacquiao. Photos by Mikey Williams.

Crawford remained unbeaten when Diaz’s corner stopped the fight after the 10th round of the 140-pound fight and looks ready for whichever of his options comes later this year.

“I’ve been saying that for years now. It’s not up to me. But everybody wants to know who’s the next guy that Terence Crawford wants to fight,” Crawford said. “I’ll fight anybody. It doesn’t matter who it is.”

Crawford had dominated after a couple of close early rounds and Diaz’s left eye appeared swollen shut, making him helpless to spot Crawford’s lightning-fast combinations.

Crawford (31-0, 22 KOs) toyed with Diaz in the 10th, backing him into the corner and then, rather than throw any punches, patting him on the head. He then unloaded a couple hard shots toward the end of the round, prompting trainer Joel Diaz to tell referee Steve Willis his fighter could no longer continue.

Afterward, Crawford named longtime superstar Pacquiao and welterweight champion Keith Thurman as fighters he’d want if he moves up in weight. But he may stick around at 140 a little longer to grab the two belts he doesn’t own.

Crawford successfully defended his WBC and WBO titles. Promoter Bob Arum said the Omaha, Nebraska, fighter would return this summer and they could look to unify the titles against Julius Indongo, who holds the WBA, IBO and IBF 140-pound titles.

“Once he gets all four belts he’s going to fight Pacquiao with my new partner Warren Buffett,” Arum said.

Diaz (19-2, 9 KOs), a 2008 Olympic gold medalist for the Dominican Republic, lost for the first time at 140 pounds and was stopped for the first time.

The shorter Diaz tried to get inside but was kept away by Crawford in the first round, though he landed a couple of hard shots when he closed the distance in the second — when he won the only round he was credited with on one judge’s card. The fighters stared at each other after the round ended, but Crawford seized control from there.

“I knew he was frustrated,” Crawford said.

Boxing throughout from the southpaw stance, he rarely let Diaz get close again, using left uppercuts and combinations. He put his 4-inch reach and 3-inch height advantages to good use, and when being bigger wasn’t good enough, Crawford relied on being faster, spinning out of trouble any time Diaz lunged forward.

“No excuses, I lost to the best guy at 140 pounds,” Diaz said through promoter Lou DiBella.

Crawford stuck out his tongue at Diaz after one exchange in the seventh, showing no fear. Diaz’s face was swollen by the ninth and ringside doctors checked his eye before the start of the 10th.

Joel Diaz gave Felix one last round but it was clear there was no point.

NEW YORK — Undefeated World Junior Welterweight Champion and top pound for pound fighter TERENCE “Bud” CRAWFORD will make his 2017 debut, Saturday, May 20, at the Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden. This will also be his debut headlining in the big room — a testament both to his talent and his growing popularity. Photos by Ed Mulholland.

Crawford will be defending his unified World Boxing Organization (WBO) / World Boxing Council (WBC) / Ring magazine titles against former Olympic gold medalist and top-rated contender FÉLIX DÍAZ in a marquee all-action fight. It will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT.

“Crawford vs. Díaz was made for The Garden and I anticipate a battle between these two warriors worthy of its moniker as the Mecca of Boxing,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum.

“Come May 20, I will be ready for whatever Félix Díaz brings to the ring that night,” said Crawford. “It’s going to be a great experience fighting at Madison Square Garden in the big arena where all the greats have fought. I’m looking forward to that night.”

“We’ve got our work cut out for us fighting against another Olympic gold medalist,” said Brian McIntyre, Crawford’s trainer and co-manager. “It’s an honor to fight in the arena at Madison Square Garden. It’s a step up going from The Theater into the big room.”

“First, I would like to thank the man upstairs for making my dream come true. I would also like to thank Lou DiBella, Al Haymon, HBO and my manager Jose Nuñez for working around the clock to get me to this point,” said Díaz. “The time has finally come. I will share a ring with one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and I tip my hat to Crawford for accepting me as an opponent on May 20 because I am no pushover. I’m coming to bring my A-game and I couldn’t be more grateful to be able to showcase my skills on HBO and at Madison Square Garden, which is just 15 minutes from where I live. I will take full advantage of this opportunity. I respect Crawford and believe he is a great fighter, but every king can be dethroned.”

“Félix Díaz is an Olympic gold medalist, a seasoned professional and the best fighter Terence Crawford has ever fought. We have been chasing this fight for a year because Felix and our team believe we can win. The fans will win when they see a terrific, competitive fight on May 20th,” said Lou DiBella, the promoter of Díaz.

“On May 20, unified champ Terence Crawford faces gold medalist Félix Díaz in a fight to light up Madison Square Garden,” said Peter Nelson, Executive Vice President, HBO Sports. “Holding two belts and a place on any top pound for pound list, Terence Crawford looks to have his 2017 debut make a big statement in the Big Apple. Fans will see both fighters’ mettle tested at the Mecca of Boxing.”

OMAHA, Neb. — Unbeaten world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford stopped John Molina in the eighth round to end a dominating performance Saturday night.

Crawford retained his WBO and WBC junior welterweight titles. Molina didn’t make the 140-pound weight Friday, and if Crawford had been upset, the titles would have been vacated.

Crawford was in control all the way and finished off Molina moments after Molina raised his hands, as if to ask for more as the champion landed a flurry of punches. A shot to Molina’s midsection backed him into the corner, and Crawford then unloaded repeated shots to the head and body, causing Molina to go down. Referee Mark Nelson stepped in to stop the fight at the 2:32 mark.

Punch Stats

PUNCHES

CRAWFORD

MOLINA

Landed

184

41

Thrown

419

287

Percent

44%

14%

— Courtesy of CompuBox

The 29-year-old Crawford (30-0, 21 knockouts) came out in an orthodox stance but quickly switched to southpaw. Molina was on defense early, with Crawford landing a left to the head and then a right that staggered him. Molina walked into a right to the head in the second.

Crawford went mostly untouched, but Molina did land a hard right to the head in the third. From there, Crawford mixed in his jab while connecting often with punches to the head and body.

Crawford beat previously undefeated Viktor Postol by unanimous decision in July in Las Vegas to unify the 140-pound titles, and Crawford continues to hold out hope that he gets a shot at Manny Pacquiao before the Philippine boxer retires.

The 33-year-old Molina (29-7, 23 knockouts) upset Ruslan Provodnikov in his last fight but had been just 5-5 in his previous 10.

The fight against Crawford lost much of its luster when Molina weighed in at 143.4 pounds on Friday, disqualifying him from winning the titles.

In the co-main event, former world title contender Ray Beltran knocked out Mason Menard 51 seconds into the seventh round to win a pair of regional lightweight titles.

Beltran (32-7-1, 20 knockouts) began asserting himself after the second round. Beltran left Menard (32-2, 24 knockouts) woozy with a flurry at the end of the sixth. His left to the right cheek laid out Menard, and Nelson stopped the fight.

Menard, who had won 30 straight fights, stepped in for the injured Juan Diaz on the card. Beltran had won twice since stopping Takahiro Ao in May 2015, but that fight was changed to a no-decision after Beltran failed a post-fight drug test.

WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford and challenger John Molina faced off at their kickoff press converence on Thursday in Omaha for their December 10th fight at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.

Terence Crawford said “We’ve been watching [Molina] for a long time now. We knew he was a dangerous fighter. We’re looking to go to hell and back to get the victory. I know it’s gonna be a great fight.”

John Molina said “All the talking means nothing. Fighter’s fight.”

Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum said “John Molina is a helluva fighter. We know how dangerous he is. This fight without a doubt is the best fight in the division.”

Unbeaten Terence Crawford punched his way to a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision over Viktor Postol on Saturday to unify the World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council super lightweight world titles.

Crawford, who improved to 29-0 with 20 knockouts, dropped Postol twice in the fifth round to seize control of the bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, with two judges scoring it 118-107 for the American and the third seeing it 117-108.

In handing Postol his first defeat in 29 fights, Crawford not only added the Ukrainian’s WBC belt to his own WBO title, he put himself in line for a potential date with Manny Pacquiao in the Filipino’s return to the ring likely later this year in Las Vegas.

“It’s whatever,” Crawford said of a possible fight with Pacquiao. “I let my coaches handle that. I’m a fighter. I’ll fight anybody. I’m looking forward to the biggest and best fights to get me to that next level.”

Crawford, 28, was content to feel Postol out over the first three rounds, before landing a series of damaging lefts in the fourth.

He had Postol’s knee on the canvas in the opening seconds of the fifth with a right hook, and sent him down again in the same round with another left.

As Postol struggled to deal with Crawford’s quick, erratic movement, the American won round after round, staggering Postol again in the ninth.

Postol tried to pour it on in the 12th, but Crawford didn’t yield.

“I just stick to what I knew – boxing,” Crawford said. “They say he’s got the best jab in my division, I proved different today.”

It’s all too rare in the sport of boxing to see the number one and number two fighters in a division face one another, especially while risking unbeaten records. But, on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, we’ll witness exactly such a confrontation. WBO jr welterweight champion and Pride of Omaha Terence “Bud” Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs) faces Freddie Roach-trained, WBC super lightweight champion Victor “The Iceman” Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) from Ukraine in a highly anticipated unification showdown on HBO PPV.

Fightnews.com® has been covering Terence “Bud” Crawford since his fifth professional fight and we sat down with him Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas before he left for his nightly conditioning workout.

Hello, champ. We have covered you for so long, it’s a real privilege to see you reach your goals and to finally be center stage. Does being on PPV and have the so called “next guy” tag put too much pressure on you?

Not at all, I mean..this is what I wanted, I just thought it would happen sooner. The pressure is always there but that’s just part of the sport. My job is to get my body and mind ready for whatever stage they tell/ask me to get ready for. But yeah most definitely it’s surreal. I’ve always seen myself as a main event guy.

I believe you are now on your fourth straight fight at 140lbs. How much have those five pounds made a difference in your preparation, training and strategy?

The move up in weight was perfect, it was huge. I don’t feel drained, it’s nice to be able to eat the week of weigh-ins and cutting in camp is no longer life and death (laughing). Ya’ll have no idea how much fighters go through to make weight, especially if they are already fit guys. I’ve been doing this since eight years old.

This will be your first fight at the MGM Grand. The venue has a rich history of mega fights that produced huge stars. Will we see another one come Saturday night?

I don’t know, it really depends on how the fight goes, what my opponent can and wants to do. I know that I’m prepared to box if necessary, bang if necessary, or even get in a dog fight if that’s what it takes to be victorious. I’m a big fan of the sport and fighting here at the MGM is going to be electric.

A couple more questions champ and we will let you do your thing. A lot of speculation and talk has been about Victor Postol’s dissection of former champion Lucas Matthysse. It seems as if everyone has fell in love with Postol’s jab. We know you have a darn good jab as well. Does it bother you that he gets credit for his jab but others fail to mention yours?

Yeah, it’s kind of funny hearing it. I’m like reading and hearing ‘his jab this, his jab that…’ If that’s all he has, he’s in trouble. I do feel like my jab is definitely underrated and I take pride in working on everything in the gym. I feel like my boxing IQ, ring generalship, power/speed along with my own jab hopefully makes me a complete fighter.

What does Terence Crawford need to do in order to take another man’s title that means so much to his country and himself?

I need to follow the game plan, the plan we worked on in camp. I need to adjust as the fight goes and convince him that tonight it’s not going his way. I just need to be me, to be myself and let those hands go. We are definitely going to find out who has the better jab.

TERENCE CRAWFORD – “There is no pressure on me being looked at as boxing’s next superstar, but there is a lot of hard work in becoming one. I’m really excited to be on the big stage and I’m on that big stage because I paid my dues in the gym and in the ring.

That’s the reason I have accomplished so much as a fighter — pride of performance — and that’s why I am going to win on July 23. If I’m going to solidify my position as the new face of boxing it starts by unifying the 140 pound division.”

“I’ve been fighting people taller than me and larger than me all my life. I’ve been short for 28 years and I haven’t been stopped yet. Postol is nothing to me. He’s just another guy that I’m fighting.

I’m not training for Postol, I’m training for myself — to be the best I can possibly be. I do that, then no one can beat me. I’m confident in my abilities and I am confident that I am going to destroy Postol.”

Unbeaten WBO Jr Welterweight Champion Terence “Bud” Crawford makes a quick pit stop in Los Angeles at Fortune’s Gym in Hollywood California for a media day workout then swung by ESPN Studios for the taping of “A Los Gulpes” as a special guest with Julio Cesar Chavez before heading to Las Vegas for his Unification bout against Viktor Postol which will air on HBO PPV July 23, 2106 at MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

WBO junior welterweight world champion Terence Crawford was joined by Top Rank’s Carl Moretti and co-manager and head trainer Bryan McIntyre in a roundtable with reporters. Here’s what he had to say in advance of his world title clash against WBC champion Viktor Postol on July 23 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The bout will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View.

What did you think about Viktor Postol’s performance against Lucas Matthysse and did it surprise you at all?

I feel as though Postol did what he needed to do to win. I think he did a lot of holding and using his elbows that the ref didn’t see. But all in all he did what he had to do to get the job done. I picked him to win in that fight anyway so it was a good victory.

There have been stories about Manny Pacquiao coming back and you were mentioned as an opponent recently. Does it up the stakes for you since he may return?

I am not thinking about Manny Pacquiao at all. I am focusing on Viktor Postol and that’s it – that is all.

There were blogs that went out on Tuesday where you were complimentary of Postol but he was not of you. Going as far as saying Matthysse was better than you…

Well, that’s what he is supposed to say. He is supposed to say he is going to destroy anybody that he is going to step in the ring with, but to my knowledge, I don’t care what he says because come July 23rd he is going to have to show me, he is not going to just be able to tell you. He knew who to fight. He had the option of fighting either me or Matthysse and he thought Matthysse was the easier fight because he knew if he was going to fight Terence Crawford he knew what was going to happen.

You two have a common opponent – Hank Lundy. You stopped him and Postol beat him by decision – does that give you any more confidence coming into the fight?

No, styles make fights. That was a few years back and I don’t look at it as a confidence booster. I just know my skills and my ability in the ring – I believe that I am going to get the job done on July 23rd.

You have 20 knockouts to his 12 – do you feel you have the advantage in power?

I feel, all around, I can do whatever I want in there. If I have to box, I box. If I have to brawl, I brawl. If I have to trade, I trade. In those types of fights, I have the power to back you up. All in all, I feel like my IQ is what takes me to the next level.

Does the rough type style, like Yuriorkis Gamboa and like Postol, bother you and how do you overcome it?

Not at all. I just be myself and stay relaxed. Stay composed and do what I came to do. Do what we’ve been working on in camp and everything else will fall into place. The approach is to go in there and do what we have been working on. Each fight is different and every fighter is different. Gamboa was a real crafty fighter and so is Postol, but Postol poses a different threat than Gamboa so we will have to see what he poses on fight night.

Do you plan to go southpaw often and how do you prepare for his jab?

We just have to see how the fight goes. It’s funny how all of the people are giving Postol all of the credit for his jab but nobody is talking about how good my jab is. So I’m loving it. I’m loving it. I’m loving it how everyone is talking about how good his jab is.

Why are you training in Colorado Springs. Is it to get away from home?

We have been training in Colorado Springs for about four years – so if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We have been having good success out there. You get away and we get to have a great camp. Plus the high altitude gives us a little edge.

When you go to that altitude for camp, how long does it take for you to adjust? Those are serious runs at serious altitude?

I adjust real quick since I am used to going out there. The first couple of days and the first couple of workouts you feel it but then your body gets acclimated to the climate.

Are you worried about Postol’s grabbing, holding tactics?

That’s not my problem and I can’t be concerned about it. I can just hope the referee notices it and does something about it.

Would you say Postol is a dirty fighter?

I wouldn’t say that he is dirty. He fights to win. He is trying to do whatever he can to win. Some things are not allowed and some things some referees let you do more than others.

Pacquiao coming back…last year it was mentioned you were not well known enough to fight Pacquiao on pay-per-view. What do you think this fight will do for you?

It will help me tremendously, but again, I am not thinking about that fight right now or whether I may be fighting him or if I put on a good show. My main focus is Viktor Postol.

Carl Moretti: It is the meaning of when you get the best two guys fighting each other the winner comes out as the best in the division and unfortunately in boxing we don’t get that a lot. So you have a unified champion who is clearly the best fighter in the division and I think what you’ll see is a lot of talk about Terence being in the top three pound-for-pound after this, because of the accomplishment. It’s not just to unify the title or to try to unify the title. If the title-holder is kind of weak – and I don’t mean to put down other fighters or other champions – but there are champions out there that really, from talent, just aren’t that good or as good as they can be. With Postol, everybody’s eyes opened up when he knocked out Matthysse, who apparently was the second coming of Carlos Monzon – I don’t know where that came from, but that ended quickly, and if Crawford does what he is capable of doing, I think his value clearly skyrockets by beating another champion that is well-respected. You hear other champions say “I want to unify” and you don’t even know who the other champion is in the division. Take the same meaning here – Crawford-Postol means a lot. If Crawford beats Postol it means a lot.

Before this fight was made, was it a priority for you to unify the titles? Some want to fight the best, some want to unify…where do you stand?

I just want to fight and be recognized as the best in my division. That’s it. So if going through Postol means that’s how I get there, then so be it. But from the standpoint of my division, I want to fight all of them, until I move up.

Do you feel like you would want to continue to unify or is it not a big deal to you?

Well, I don’t know. Right now it is not. All of my focus is on Postol. I don’t worry about all of the extra things that is around the division right now.

Do you worry about Postol’s height advantage? It is about three inches and that plus the reach could be concerning…

I have fought a lot of tall opponents in my career. This is not the first tall opponent that I have ever fought and it’s not going to be something new to me. It’s not going to be something that I have never seen before. So I am not concerned about his height or his jab or anything because I have seen it before.

Do you view this fight as the biggest of your career so far?

Of course – this is a very big fight for me at a very critical time of my career. This fight is more meaningful than the Gamboa fight, at the moment, because this fight can take me to that next level beyond the level that I’m on right now. This fight means a lot and I do look at it as the biggest fight of my career to date.

Did you have any reaction when you heard that Manny Pacquiao was coming back?

No, not at all. I didn’t even worry about it and I didn’t care and I didn’t even know because that’s not my main focus.

Since this is your first fight on pay-per-view, do you feel like your name is getting out there more?

I don’t really know how to answer that because I feel like my name is out there already, but I do feel like my name could be bigger than it is. But at the same time, that is not something that I focus on, that is something that will develop in time. I promote my self as well as my promoters who promote me.

In the documentary you mentioned how you got a second chance after being shot in the head. Is that something you think about all the time?

Yes, of course. I don’t think about it a lot, because I like to put it in the past and put it behind me and move on with my life. But sometimes I do think about how I got a second chance and make the best of it.

How did it feel having HBO follow you around Omaha and talk to your family, something that a lot of fighters don’t have happen to them?

It was pretty cool to see myself on HBO and to see all the things that they do in making the special and I was happy to be a part of it.

Do you have a new hope of getting in the ring with Manny Pacquiao if you defeat Postol?

I’m not worried about that now so I don’t think about it.

How do you think your mother and grandmother did on the HBO show? They didn’t seem to be camera shy at all…

They did good (laughing).

Bryan, we have spoken to Terence about Postol’s antics – holding and elbows…do you do anything in preparation for that or do you just overlook it?

Bryan McIntyre: Me and the other coaches (Coach Saul and Red), we sat down and talked about it and we are going to let referee Tony Weeks know that we are very concerned about whet he does in the ring.